- Grammar

Cranmar blazing in the sky, make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be upheld by all our hands.

HELPS TO STUDY

Four

Notes and Questions What does the author say the flag To whom do the words means to an American in a fathers” refer? foreign country

What does the white in the flag How can you explain this?

signify or represent? What makes our flag beautiful? What does the red signify? The How does the American flag “rer. blue resent all”, more than the flags

To what does the orator compare of other countries?

the cluster of stars in the AmerWhat do the stripes in the flag ican flag?

tell 9 How many stripes are What part of the flag shows that there in the flag?

there was union among the What do the stars show

states in the past? How many stars have we in the What part shows the present flag now?

union of states ?

Words and Phrases for Study PRONUNCIATION: main-tain' (mān-tān') rěc'-og-nīze

för'-eign (în) ăl-těr'-nāte of-fi-cial-ly

õ-rig'-i-năl sub-lime'-ly sỹm'-bõl-ize

pro-claim' (klām')

VOCABULARY:

văl'-or-bravery; courage.
rěv'-er-ence-great respect and affectiond
nă'-tion-al-of the nation or belonging to the nation.

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

Francis Scott Key (1780-1843) was an American lawyer and poet. He was a native of Maryland. His “The Star-Spangled Banner" made him famous.

1 O SAY, can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming; And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there: O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

2 On that shore, dimly seen through the mist of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses ?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
"Tis the Star-Spangled Banner; 0, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

3 And where are the foes who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war, and the battle’s confusion, A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight, or the gloon of the grave; And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

4

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and the war's desolation; Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto, "In God is our trust”; And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

HELPS TO STUDY

Historical: The incidents referred to in this poem occurred during the war of 1812. In August, 1814, a strong force of British entered Washington and burned the Capitol, the White House, and many other public buildings. On September 13 the British admiral moved his fleet into position to attack Fort McHenry. The bombardment of the fort lasted all night, but the fort was so bravely defended that the flag was still floating over it when morning came.

Just before the bombardment began, Francis Scott Key was sent to the admiral's frigate to arrange for an exchange of prisoners and was told to wait until the bombardment was over. All night he watched the fort and by the first rays of morning light he saw the Stars and Stripes still waving. Then, in his joy and pride, he wrote the stirring words of the song, which is now known and loved by all Americans—"The Star Spangled Banner.”

Notes and Questions When was this song written Who were the "foe's haughty What “perilous fight”' had taken host''? place

What words tell where the foe Where was the author during was the fight?

What words tell that the foe had What had he seen at the "twi ceased firing? light's last gleaming''?

Why was this? Over what ramparts was

the Where was the reflection of the flag streaming?

flag seen What proof did he have during What is the meaning of “thus”

the night that the flag was in the line that begins “O thug still flying over the fort!

be it ever''

What land is the “heav'n-res

cued land''g What does the author mean

when he speaks of the "Power

that has made and preserved

us a nation' Read the words which must be

our country's motto.

Words and Phrases for Study

PRONUNCIATION:

pěr' il-ous hăv'oc hire'-ling

tow'-er-ing (tou’-ēr-ing) děs-o-lā'-tion (shủn) haugh?ty (hô°ti)

ref'-ūge põl-lū'-tion

vaunt'-ing-ly (vônt')

VOCABULARY:

rés'-cūe—to free or deliver from danger or evil. tri'ŭmph-victory; a state of joy because of success.

WORDS AND PHRASES:

"mist of the deep”
“fitfully blows'
"rocket's red glare"
“haughty host"

“ramparts)
“bombs bursting in air”

'Star-Spangled”
"towering steep”

THE NAME OF OLD GLORY*

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

James Whitcomb Riley (1852 ) is an American poet. He was born in Indiana and is called "The Hoosier Poet."

1
OLD GLORY! say, who,
By the ships and the crew,
And the long, blended ranks of the gray and the blue,–
Who gave you, Old Glory, the name that you bear
With such pride everywhere
As you cast yourself free to the rapturous air
And leap out full-length, as we're wanting you to ?-
Who gave you that name, with the ring of the same,
And the honor and fame so becoming to you?
Your stripes stroked in ripples of white and of red,

*Copyright, 1900, James Whitcomb Riley. Published by permission of the Bhbs-Merrill Company.

With your stars at their glittering best overhead-
By day or by night
Their delightfullest light
Laughing down from their little square heaven of blue le
Who gave you the name of Old Glory?-say, who--

Who gave you the name of Old Glory?

The old banner lifted, and faltering then
In vague lisps and whispers fell silent again

2
Old Glory: the story we're wanting to hear
Is what the plain facts of your christening were,
For your name—just to hear it,
Repeat it, and cheer it, 's a tang to the spirit
As salt as a tear;-
And seeing you fly, and the boys marching by,
There's a shout in the throat and a blur in the eye
And an aching to live for you always-or die,
If, dying, we still keep you waving on high.
And so, by our love
For you, floating above,
And the scars of all wars and the sorrows thereof,
Who gave you the name of Old Glory, and why

Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory?

Then the old banner leaped, like a sail in the blast,
And fluttered an audible answer at last.

3
And it spake, with a shake of the voice, and it said :-
By the driven snow-white and the living blood-red
Of my bars, and their heaven of stars overhead-
By the symbol conjoined of them all, skyward cast,
As I float from the steeple, or flap at the mast,